Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Development on Augmented Reality 'Apple Glasses' Postponed Indefinitely

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,664
39,549


Apple has paused development on the augmented reality Apple Glasses that it planned to introduce after its mixed reality headset, reports Bloomberg. Work on the product has been postponed because of technical difficulties.

Apple-Glasses-Triad-Feature.jpg

Rumors suggested that Apple wanted to develop a pair of lightweight augmented reality glasses that would be similar to the Google Glass smart glasses. The glasses would provide digital information overlaid on the real world rather than offering immersive virtual experiences like the AR/VR headset, but Apple has not been able to develop the necessary hardware to produce a lightweight wearable that has the power of an iPhone and enough battery life to run it.

Apple initially wanted to release the Apple Glasses in 2023 before delaying the project to 2025, but now the product's launch has been postponed "indefinitely." Apple has also scaled back work on the device, so Apple Glasses will not be launching in the foreseeable future, but Bloomberg says that Apple considers AR glasses to be a product that could one day replace the iPhone.

According to Bloomberg, some Apple employees do not believe that Apple will ever ship AR glasses. Most of Apple's AR/VR group is working on the mixed reality headsets that Apple is planning to produce, but there are still some that are exploring technology for future AR glasses.

Rather than developing augmented reality glasses, Apple is now focused on creating a more affordable mixed reality headset that will appeal to a wider range of consumers. The first AR/VR headset that is set to launch this year will cost somewhere around $3,000, so Apple wants to provide similar capabilities at a cheaper price point in the future.

Details on all of the features included in the first mixed reality headset can be found in our AR/VR roundup.

Article Link: Development on Augmented Reality 'Apple Glasses' Postponed Indefinitely
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/17/apple-glasses-postponed/
  • Haha
  • Sad
  • Like
Reactions: u+ive, Pezimak, asv56kx3088 and 6 others
Of course we would rather have these than bulky VR goggles, but they just aren't technically possible right now without a ton of deal-breaking drawbacks. Companies have abandoned AR contact lens development as well.

Yet another VR headset isn't all that interesting to me, since I've owned them since the Rift DK1 - a lot of new people are going to spend a lot of money to try Apple's out for a few months and realize it's uncomfortable and inconvenient, no matter how impressive the tech is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GlassFingers, François Luneau, xalea and 4 others
The main competition for a headset is an LCD Monitor. There are only a few specialized scenarios where I can imagine, it'd work better than one. Medical, Military, Sports which need a hands-free display. Even then the tech is still quite a ways off
 
  • Like
Reactions: singhs.apps and François Luneau
All I will say is that all of these "moonshot" projects have now failed, at least in our lifetimes, sad times:
  • self-driving cars
  • Google's much-hyped contact lenses for AR use
  • AR glasses
  • Google's Project Loon - remember that?
  • Facebook's all-access internet
  • Apple's Car project
These tech companies are slowly coming to the conclusion that there are mortal, just like everyone else, no matter how much your market cap is.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: GlassFingers, G5isAlive, aka777 and 14 others
So this is likely the reason why we have had rumours for years of a headset, it’s coming this year, then delayed, then coming this year, then delayed… something tells me the ‘headset’ was originally for internal testing purposes for the glasses only, but Apple have likely hit too many snags with the glasses and have developed the headset that much that it’s a sound device to bring to market.

Hence why Apple are likely going in at the top end pricing and working backwards, rather than starting low and working up to a more pro device.

I doubt apple will ever stop working on AR glasses but it’s likely way into the future, maybe 10 years from now.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: noblesoul117, DarkCole, Sasparilla and 3 others
ersan191 said:
Of course we would rather have these than bulky VR goggles, but they just aren't technically possible right now without a ton of deal-breaking drawbacks. Companies have abandoned AR contact lens development as well.

Yet another VR headset isn't all that interesting to me, since I've owned them since the Rift DK1 - a lot of new people are going to spend a lot of money to try Apple's out for a few months and realize it's uncomfortable and inconvenient, no matter how impressive the tech is.
Click to expand...
I agree with you 100%! We need Alien technology to make these feasible! At least right now we do!
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: madrigal77, bLackjackj and JapanApple
I don't like the sound of it. They make a crazy expensive item, and abandoned the actual obtainable one? Something like the Newton wasn't practical but at least it was affordable by ordinary humans.
 
Last edited:
Macalway said:
Something is amiss here. I wonder if Apple is having internal problems, and therefore motivational problems. Under Steve, this might just have materialized.

A company like this is so large, who knows wtf goes on. Just saying.
Click to expand...
Apple is focused more on service stream and Ads business now. That’s why there’s a lack of motivation. It’s all about a subscription-based business model.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Sad
Reactions: SFjohn, CarAnalogy, krell100 and 8 others
anshuvorty said:
All I will say is that all of these "moonshot" projects have now failed, at least in our lifetimes, sad times:
  • self-driving cars
  • Google's much-hyped contact lenses for AR use
  • AR glasses
  • Google's Project Loon - remember that?
  • Facebook's all-access internet
  • Apple's Car project
These tech companies are slowly coming to the conclusion that there are mortal, just like everyone else, no matter how much your market cap is.
Click to expand...
At least we have Science Fiction like AI with ChatGPT! That is a moonshot project that is showing great success! DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney are not that that bad either!
 
  • Disagree
  • Like
Reactions: u+ive, macvicta, twiebnoyagad and 2 others
At $US3,000.00 this is a non-starter from the get go. If someone thinks that "wider range of consumers" and this price point go together, they have lost touch with reality. Only when someone is able to make a headset that offers a good experience and costs $500 or less will this technology take off.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: u+ive, G5isAlive, Pezimak and 3 others
Ghost31 said:
Probably. But we’ll still get bs articles every year telling us it’ll come this year. Just reset and recycle for every year
Click to expand...
Of course, and we will still click onto those articles and YouTube videos to hear all about the rumours :p
 
Google had people complain about glasses. It wasn't great but people cried about privacy. I want to see it happen.
 
Due to "technical reasons",..hmm, sounds more like Apple want us focusing on the here and now to once again control the narrative. First the notch ahem.."island", now glasses.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: TracerAnalog and wilhoitm
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back